No Such Thing As Coincidence
by cuby18
Summary: It was said that the name you got upon your arrival to SAS selection was never purely coincidental. Or the three times K-Unit interacted with their animal namesakes. Written for Spyfest 2019 Week One


**Prompt: "A SAS soldier meets the animal he was named after"**

* * *

_In the rainforest with Snake…_

_**It was unavoidable that they would meet again**_

If there was one thing that he was adamant to keep from his unit mates forever it was probably how he felt about his codename. The fact was, that his name couldn't have been chosen more poorly even if he was named after some cute, cuddly animal. Or at least it was one of Snake's more prevalent thoughts during his first days of selection. Snakes were, after all, that one species that terrified him more than anything else. it was like that ever since he had that unfortunate encounter with one as a kid when it almost strangled him in the sleep when on a camping trip. Something that, despite all the years that passed, still haunted his dreams.

Therefore it was quite understandable that the mere thought of his new nickname (it was all there was to his new codename in those early days) unsettled him visibly when he was assigned it. Even an almost instant connection his mind made with the caduceus hardly helped to settle the feeling of unease. As an ancient symbol of medicine, he guessed it made some amount of sense for him, future unit medic, to be named after it. But despite all that still, he couldn't get rid of a feeling of foreboding whenever he thought about it in the night, lying on his bunk alone with his thoughts, some remnants of it following him through the day albeit in the back of his mind. The intensity of it faded with time, until it was nothing more than an itch that appeared from time to time when he heard the name that became his new identity to him, and as years went by, answering to it was as natural as breathing, the same as with his fear although he never really managed to get rid of it completely.

However, things came to a head when he was stuck in a jungle during a rather dangerous surveillance mission, his position barely a quarter of a mile removed from the part of the perimeter that was regularly visited by the guards at least five times per day in random intervals. It was a rarity for him to be assigned such a mission, especially alone since his primary role was that of a medic, but his whole unit was either on a medical leave (Wolf) or on a solo mission that pertained to their area of expertise (Eagle) so it fell to him to crawl through all the forest undergrowth just to spend two weeks performing a surveillance with only himself for company. He thought that waiting in submarine for four days, waiting for a perfect opportunity to swim to the shore and actually start the mission, in constant alert and anticipation was bad, but at least he had someone to talk to there, as opposed to his current position where he was only allowed to communicate through the complicated series of codes that he received new instructions in very few days and the reports he sent every evening.

He was just in the middle of reading a report and so engrossed in deciphering the instructions he received from his direct superiors regarding further course of action that he was blind and deaf for the world when he felt something brush against his calve. He froze. The feeling immediately transported him in the past, to that fateful night when he was awoken by the screams and hands reaching for his throat to free him. The sounds of the snake's body slithering towards the forest still engraved in his mind, as well feeling of its movements moving against his neck.

Not daring to move an inch, barely breathing in hopes of the snake finding him uninteresting and not viewing him as prey, he almost completely missed the movements of the guard that chose that very moment to make a wider sweep of the parameter. The guard that he missed completely because he was paying more attention to his surroundings, something that was unforgivable and would see him send for a remedial course if it didn't get him killed first.

His mind short-circuited, barely registering the new danger he was in. It took all of the considerable self-control he obtained during the training to remain still and calm his heart and breathing despite all of his instincts kicking in and screaming at him to run, fight, do something, anything, but just lying there waiting for the guard to notice him. However, it seemed luck was on his sight as the guard stopped his search approximately fifty meters from his position, the bushes and undergrowth doing their job and hiding him from the admittedly negligent cursory glance that the guard threw towards the forest, clearly believing it to be a waste of time to put any real effort into checking whether someone actually cared enough to traverse through miles and miles of the forest that stretched around and around the estate of his employer, especially since it covered the whole island and they controlled all the possible traffic to and from the island, be it from the air or from the water.

Satisfied the guard turned around to return to his post and Snake heaved a sigh of relief once he was out of earshot. Waiting slightly longer he finally dared to take a look at the animal that disturbed him and spied an adder slowly slithering away from him. And he was thankful that he didn't dare take a look earlier because if he knew what kind of snake was keeping him company he would have screamed and undoubtedly caught guard's attention. Even then when the danger had already passed he felt he was very close to enacting the scenario despite the reason not being present anymore. After taking some calming breaths he finally felt his heartbeat slow down to normal.

Slowly returning to decoding he noted with almost tangible relief that they were giving him green light to remove himself from the premises due to increased security all around the island, as he was in danger of being discovered. With the encounter fresh in his mind he quietly gathered his equipment and moved further into the forest where he set up a temporary camp, glad for the fact that there were just a few hours left till sunset and his departure from the place that gave him a fright of his life.

However, when back on the submarine and reminiscing about what transpired in the forest he was forced to grudgingly admit that the adder actually helped him by scaring him half to death. Without it causing him to freeze he would continue deciphering as before, more than likely completely unaware of the guard's presence and might have even notified him of his presence. While in no way freed from his fear he had to admit to himself that perhaps he judged the whole species a bit too quickly based on one's action and fort he first time he felt some strange satisfaction when he thought of his name.

Drifting to sleep he gave some last thought to what his teammates might be doing and how they would all get a kick out of his story about being saved by his animal namesake.

* * *

_Meanwhile with Eagle…_

**_Tipped off by an eagle_**

Lying in the mountains behind the carefully structured barrier made of some rocks, giving him cover and an ample opportunity to take notice of everything happening below him Eagle was bored. While he liked his job and knew he was one of the best in his field when it came to sniper mission in the wilderness he was still a bit miffed at the amount of time it usually took for something to actually happen. He was there for almost two weeks already, waiting for the people running the trafficking ring to actually turn up for him to take care of them while the rest of the soldiers assigned to the mission took care of their underlings on his signal. He knew they entered the mountain ring as the surveillance let him know, he even knew which way they took off, but couldn't seem to find them anywhere despite his reports saying they should be somewhere below him. Searching his surroundings with the trained eye he once again noticed the two eagles that have been keeping him company for the past week, although their current behaviour struck him as a bit weird, as it was pretty unusual for them to fly in circles. He would know as he read a lot about the animal that served as his codename as soon as he got a chance, especially since he found the name to be fitting and actually pretty awesome if he said so himself.

Intrigued by their behaviour he started paying closer attention to the eagles and the way they seemed to be trying to tell something or mark their territory. Slowly he transferred his gaze lower, towards the rocks and noticed a small anomaly in the otherwise undisturbed environment. If he looked straight ahead and squinted a bit he could see some movement through the bushes that partially covered some sort of a – cave? He startled when he realised that he had managed to completely miss something like this since a cave would make a perfect hiding place. He felt like hitting his head but refrained due to his brains going into mission mode, focusing solely on calculations of the best possible path fort he bullet, taking into account vent, angular velocity, the right angle… Slowly getting into a position he prepared everything so that the only thing left to do when he noticed their arrival (since logic dictated they were bound to arrive there every moment) would be to pull a trigger. He gave one last thought to thank the eagles and to berate himself for actually needing their help and once more focused on the task at hand.

It was only after he had completed the mission and was in the process of being retrieved that he once again started thinking about the eagles and how it was really an awfully useful coincidence for him to be named Eagle as it made him read up on the animal and told him that their behaviour was unusual. He couldn't wait to tell the story to his teammates. Now they would finally be forced to admit that his name was the best he thought smugly.

* * *

_Back to England with Wolf…_

**_Sharing exasperation with wolves_**

Wolf was on the verge of mental breakdown, the thought of banging his head against the nearest tree trunk becoming more and more appealing. If he had to spend another minute listening to his niece rambling about wolves he was going to do something drastic. And then go after Eagle as it was all his fault. If he hadn't been as careless as to call him by his codename in front of his niece, she wouldn't have become obsessed with wolves and determined to know everything about them. And since it also grated on his sister's nerves in came as no surprise to him when on the first day he was given clean bill of health by the doctors to leave his bed, she was on his doorstep with his niece in tow. He was told in that no-nonsense voice that he used as a unit leader and was a sort family trait, that he was to take her to the zoo since it was his codename that started everything. And that was after he'd spent several hours lying on the couch with her watching different documentaries about wolves.

He always liked his names, the wolves were, after all, good hunters, fast, knew how to communicate and work together, but everything had its limits, even his once present enthusiasm. Sitting on a bench across the fenced zoo area that kept wolves in and listening to endless chatting was giving him a migraine and he was slowly counting down the minutes till his niece would undoubtedly get hungry and therefore forced to abandon their current position. Sneaking the look at his watch he saw it was nearing noon and he gathered their stuff, ready to suggest getting some lunch when she opened her backpack and pulled out sandwiches.

''Mom prepared us some lunch so we wouldn't have to go abandon our post here to get it,'' she informed him cheerfully.

Wolf stared incomprehensively at the packet in her hands, not even registering her words beyond the fact that he was stuck there for several more hours. He almost felt like crying as he silently cursed his sister and her schemes, he just knew it was a case of her getting back at him for that prank he pulled on her and her boyfriend (now husband) when they were still dating.

Slowly getting back to the present he gave his niece a strained smile and nodded, not trusting his voice not to scream or growl, something he would never do in her presence. He took a few more calming breaths and started unwrapping his sandwich.

Throwing one more look towards the wolves he saw one of them had come lying by the fence and when their eyes met he could swear wolf looked at him with sympathy. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he once again looked at his namesake, just to see him raise when another, younger-looking wolf came near, waving its tail excitedly. Taking it all in Wolf couldn't help but think that perhaps he wasn't the only one there being pestered by his relatives.


End file.
